This Week in Retail: Achieving work-life balance, making data-driven decisions, and more

We’re back with our weekly round of retail-centric posts. Our picks for this week include a post on data-driven marketing for small businesses, a piece about achieving work-life balance, a slideshow on the future of retail, and more.

Read away:

1. Retail technology for 2015 – In this post, David Dorf writes about five big retail technology trends that are bound to make waves next year. It’s a great roundup of what we can expect from retailers in 2015, and could give you an idea of what to implement from a technological standpoint.

2. Data-driven marketing basics for your small business – Our friends at Timely have written this excellent piece on small biz data-driven marketing. It talks about the uses of data, why you should collect it, and most important, how to gather intel and what to do with the information. Check it out!

3. How to achieve a work-life balance during the holidays– We know that life is very hectic these days, with the holidays and all, but striving for work-life balance isn’t something you should forgo. As Anne Allen writes, “while finding a good work-life balance can be a tricky task for many people, it’s especially important for small business owners who need to make sure they don’t deplete energy levels and think about the reserve and resilience they’ll need to hit the ground running in the New Year.” Read her post to find ways on how to do just that.

4. Five big mistakes retailers are making with mobile this year– Are you letting customers shop using their mobile devices? (Or are you planning on doing so?) Then this post is a must-read. Retail Customer Experience recaps a recent webinar they hosted about the mistakes retailers make with mobile, and they list things that “trip up both mobile retailers and shoppers on their way to a successful checkout.” Read the post to learn more and to get a link to the webinar replay.

5. The future of retail– This is an excellent presentation that talks about current trends in retail and where the industry is heading. Packed with stats, graphs, ideas, and examples, anyone who wants to get insights on the future of the retail should check this out.

Francesca Nicasio is Vend's Retail Expert and Content Strategist. She writes about trends, tips, and other cool things that enable retailers to increase sales, serve customers better, and be more awesome overall. She's also the author of Retail Survival of the Fittest, a free eBook to help retailers future-proof their stores. Connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Google+.